Path: sparky!uunet!pipex!Q.icl.co.uk!dsbc!eccles.dsbc.icl.co.uk From: m...@eccles.dsbc.icl.co.uk (Matthew Roderick - KID01) Newsgroups: comp.os.linux Subject: Fair Price for Linux ? Message-ID: <1373@dsbc.icl.co.uk> Date: 18 Jan 93 10:05:35 GMT Sender: m...@dsbc.icl.co.uk Organization: ICL Bracknell, UK Lines: 36 I've just spotted an add in a UK mag call Micro Mart (14 Januart 1993) Page 69. *-------* 32-bit PC Unix operating system! Linux 0.98 base system 15 pounds Linux 0.98 extras 19 pounds X-Windows (X11R5) 19 pounds Comprehensive Linux System 45 pounds (*These prices exclude VAT and delivery*) Novtec Systems, 53 Exeter Road, Selly Oak, Birmingham. Tel. 021 456 5759 Fax. 021 455 7472 *-------* Does anyone thing 15 pounds is a fair price for 2 disks ? (base system) or are these people making a profit from Linux ? Is Linux VATable (Value Added Tax), does it have any value (in the eyes of the tax man ?>!) Any comments ? Matthew --- Matthew Roderick : E.S.Team : m...@oasis.icl.co.uk || m...@dsbc.icl.co.uk +44 [0]782 771000 x3270 : UNIX Centre, ICL, Stoke-on-Trent, England. /\/\/\/\ PANIC: AC Power Fai^[
Path: sparky!uunet!mcsun!uknet!edcastle!dcs.ed.ac.uk!sct From: s...@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Stephen Tweedie) Newsgroups: comp.os.linux Subject: Re: Fair Price for Linux ? Message-ID: < SCT.93Jan19141332@colonsay.dcs.ed.ac.uk> Date: 19 Jan 93 14:13:32 GMT References: <1373@dsbc.icl.co.uk> Sender: c...@dcs.ed.ac.uk (UseNet News Admin) Organization: University of Edinburgh Dept. of Computer Science, Scotland Lines: 34 In-Reply-To: mat@eccles.dsbc.icl.co.uk's message of 18 Jan 93 10:05:35 GMT In article <1...@dsbc.icl.co.uk>, m...@eccles.dsbc.icl.co.uk (Matthew Roderick - KID01) writes: > I've just spotted an add in a UK mag call Micro Mart (14 Januart 1993) > Page 69. > *-------* > 32-bit PC Unix operating system! > Linux 0.98 base system 15 pounds > Linux 0.98 extras 19 pounds > X-Windows (X11R5) 19 pounds > Comprehensive Linux System 45 pounds > (*These prices exclude VAT and delivery*) > Does anyone thing 15 pounds is a fair price for 2 disks ? (base system) > or are these people making a profit from Linux ? Well, that advert has been running in Micro Mart for at least two months, so I guess these folk must get enough custom for it to be worth their while. So, there must be people out there who think it a fair price. The same advert (at least in its latest incarnation) also promises support on their distributions; I don't know the quality of that support, but if they can do anything to help people get Linux up and running then I reckon that the price is not all that bad. For folk who would otherwise have to dial a bulletin board (us UK sufferers under British Telecom get charged extortionate local call rates, but that's another story), being able to buy the disks pre-loaded must be a real saving. Regards, Stephen Tweedie. --- Stephen Tweedie < s...@uk.ac.ed.dcs> (Internet: < s...@dcs.ed.ac.uk>) Department of Computer Science, Edinburgh University, Scotland.
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux Path: sparky!uunet!mcsun!news.funet.fi!hydra!klaava!torvalds From: torva...@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Linus Torvalds) Subject: Re: Fair Price for Linux ? Message-ID: <1993Jan20.223716.4160@klaava.Helsinki.FI> Organization: University of Helsinki References: < FOX.93Jan18140317@graphics.nyu.edu> <1381@dsbc.icl.co.uk> <1993Jan20.173738.17623@rtsg.mot.com> Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1993 22:37:16 GMT Lines: 42 This is just a general reply - it's not a followup to any particular post (I picked one at random to follow-up to), and is just another statement of my position. The issue has come up before, but I'm happy that there are new linux users, and it might not hurt to re-iterate. I hope the thread will die down, at least as far as the "fair price" thing is concerned. The fact is, that as far as I'm concerned, I'm actually pretty happy every time I see somebody is selling linux for money now that I feel it's actually worth it (the copyrights for versions prior to 0.12 disallowed any monetary gains at all - the changes to linux has made that something I don't worry about any more). If people are willing to pay for getting linux on disks (either from SLS or the minix-centre or whatever), either due to the fact that it's easier to get that way or because they don't have access to ftp, a service of this kind is needed. I don't actually want to be personally associated with any of the packages: I'm busy enough as it is keeping up the kernel, and I don't want to be bothered with user-level details any more than I have to. This automatically means that somebody else has to do packaging - either out of altruism or for personal gain or due to a mixture of the two. Personal gain will probably only help motivate people, so selling linux probably also means that the party has tried to make the package as good as possible, and makes it more likely that it is going to be kept up which is only good for everybody. If people have asked, I've generally asked for a copy of the product (notably of the CDROM of linux - I can't read it, but it's fun to have anyway :-) and I prefer that the distribution makes it very clear what the legal status of linux is before the actual sale (without being asked for etc). But as long as the copyleft is followed, I don't really mind one way or the other (both of the above are just a simple courtesy to me and the buyer respectively). As to the price - anything goes. If somebody is able to sell linux for more than about USD 1000 per installation, I'd certainly want to hear about it to congratulate him (and stroke my ego a bit more - not that it needs stroking as it's doing quite well as it is, thank you). I think most of the people who have written major parts of the kernel tend to agree. Linus